Sky and HBO’s ‘The Third Day’ gets immersive with Punchdrunk

Sky Studios, HBO, Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B and immersive theatre specialists Punchdrunk and writer Dennis Kelly have partnered to create a live event experience around upcoming drama series The Third Day.

Starring Naomie Harris and Jude Law, The Third Day project will tell three, stand-alone but interconnected stories, on Sky Atlantic, as well as a live, immersive event.

The first part is ‘Summer’, starring Jude Law, written by Dennis Kelly and directed by Marc Munden. Told over three episodes on Sky Atlantic, Summer follows the story of Sam (Law), a man who is drawn to a mysterious Island off the British coast where he encounters a group of islanders set on preserving their traditions at any cost.

Following ‘Summer’, viewers will get the chance to become part of The Third Day world at a immersive theatre event. Created by Punchdrunk and directed by Felix Barrett, audiences will inhabit the story as it happens, live. Places will be limited, so audiences will be able to follow the events online.

The Third Day concludes with ‘Winter’, told over a further three episodes on Sky Atlantic and Now TV. Starring Naomie Harris, written by Kit de Waal, Dean O’Loughlin and Dennis Kelly and directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, it follows Helen (Harris), a strong-willed outsider who comes to the island seeking answers, but whose arrival precipitates a fractious battle to decide its fate.

Each story can be experienced separately, with Summer and Winter working together as a complete series – but all three parts together describe a larger narrative.

The Third Day is a co-production between Sky and HBO.

The six-part limited series will air in May in the UK and Ireland on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW TV and in the US on HBO.

Co-creator Felix Barrett, artistic director at Punchdrunk said: “To tell a story that spans TV and live action has been a long held ambition of mine. The Third Day will be both a TV show and a world you can enter, giving viewers the chance to live and breathe the narrative”.

Co-creator and writer, Dennis Kelly, said: “I wanted to make a series that was unsettling and disturbing but that also spoke to fears that ran deeper than horror. The themes of The Third Day have long been obsessions of mine – it is about loss and hope and how both of those things can distort the mind in surprising and brutal ways.”